Trade summit hosted by former mayor Ron Kirk is met with protest<\/em><\/p>\nADDISON, Texas \u2014 Texans representing more than twenty different labor, environmental and community organizations gathered in Addison Circle Park this afternoon for a rally demanding a public voice in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement negotiations.\u00a0 Protesters then marched to the nearby Intercontinental Dallas Hotel, where negotiations hosted by top U.S. trade official and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk are currently underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cPast trade agreements have been a disaster for working people in Texas and around the world,\u201d said Becky Moeller, president of the Texas AFL-CIO<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cWhen negotiators refuse to share their proposals with the American public, I can\u2019t help but ask, \u2018What are they trying to hide?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nThe Dallas TPP summit is the 12th major round of negotiations on the proposed trade and investment pact between the U.S. and countries throughout the Pacific Rim. \u00a0To date, the U.S. Trade Representative Kirk has refused to publicly release the texts of any of the proposals his office has made for a reported 26 separate chapters, covering everything from financial regulations and government procurement to food safety and the environment.\u00a0 Meanwhile, approximately 600 corporate lobbyists have been granted access to the negotiating documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cTexans are rightly worried about the effect the TPP could have on jobs and wages in their communities,\u201d said Brent Taylor, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local Union 745 and Joint Council 80<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cPeople should be skeptical of a negotiating process that gives Wall Street banks and corporate lobbyists a seat at the table, while shutting out ordinary working families.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cThe world can\u2019t afford a \u2018NAFTA of the Pacific,\u2019\u201d said Nancy Hall, executive vice president of Communications Workers of America Local 6215<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cIf Wall Street banks and big corporations continue to be the main parties influencing the TPP negotiations, expect another pact that puts corporate interests ahead of working people and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\nCountries represented in this month\u2019s negotiations are the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, but the TPP is also explicitly intended as a \u201cdocking agreement\u201d that other nations will join over time.\u00a0 Canada, Japan and Mexico have already indicated their interest in doing so.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe TPP is supposed to set a new standard for trade and investment globally.\u00a0 A pact this far-reaching should not be written in the shadows,\u201d said Ilana Solomon, trade representative for the Sierra Club<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cThe TPP could literally affect the air with breathe, the food we eat and the types of employment available to our children and grandchildren.\u00a0 It should be crafted with complete transparency and public participation.\u201d<\/p>\nUSTR Kirk is pushing for the TPP negotiations to conclude this year, and has already indicated that he wants Congress to grant him \u201cFast Track\u201d authority in order to speed the TPP through Congress outside of normal review, amendment and debate procedures.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf U.S. negotiators get their way, the public will be barred from reviewing anything until negotiations are over and it would be virtually impossible to make changes, which is a serious problem because the U.S. is proposing to ban Buy American procurement policies, increase medicine prices, undermine financial regulation, limit food safety and subject our laws to attack in foreign tribunals,\u201d said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen\u2019s Global Trade Watch<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cThe secretive process of TPP negotiations reinforces the worst public perceptions about government not serving the 99% but rather only representing the interests of the 1%.\u201d<\/p>\nSaturday\u2019s rally and march were endorsed by the Citizens Trade Campaign, Code Pink, Communications Workers of America, Dallas AFL-CIO Council, Dallas Peace Center, Friends of the Earth, International Association of Machinists, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, MoveOn.org Dallas, National Family Farm Coalition, North Texas Jobs with Justice, Occupy Texas, Public Citizen, Sierra Club,\u00a0Texas AFL-CIO, Texas Fair Trade Coalition, Texas State Building Trades Council, United Students Against Sweatshops, Welcoming Immigrants Network and others.<\/p>\n
###<\/p>\n
For more <\/strong>information on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, visit:
\n<\/strong>http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/cx8wb9u<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Immediate Release Texans demand a public voice in secretive Trans-Pacific trade negotiations Trade summit hosted by former mayor Ron Kirk is met with protest ADDISON, Texas \u2014 Texans representing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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